We all have values and preferences. And we also know there can be too much of a good thing. We could be a bit more balanced.
Too much thinking can lead to indecision. You could use some intuition.
Being too driven can lead to burnout or rigid thinking. You could use some idleness.
Too focused on growth can lead to missing what’s good now. You could use some presence.
These are called polarities. Two poles. Two opposites in a sense.
It helps to know the important polarities in your life, so you can use the best of both worlds.
Here are 3 that are present for lots of creatives that run a company.
The Craft ↔ The Company
A creative got into this line of work because of their intrigue, fascination, or love of the craft. They prefer nothing above being immersed in challenging projects.
But when you want to build a company, you have to provide room to play for others. When you don’t, everything still runs through you.
At best, your time becomes the bottleneck. At worst, your people will be discouraged and disappointed.
Because, like you, they love and excel in a good creative challenge. That’s why you hired them!
So, empower your team by giving them true ownership of the project. Enrich the discussion without dominating. Trust the genius of your people. And be clear about the difference when you decide to join IN a project.
At the core is the tension between working IN the company and working ON the company.
New ↔ Repeat
Once it’s done, it’s no longer a challenge and loses all appeal.
But when it’s done right, a new client will ring and ask for “exactly like that one”.
And that could be really good for the business.
Until you have the position to charge enough, ánd the capacity to say to potential clients that “this might not work”, you have to balance new and repeat.
Autonomy & Independence ↔ Shared journey & Force
Often, creatives value their autonomy. They can’t let others corrupt their way of work.
By joining with others to co-found a business, you lose some of your independence.
This happens too when hiring a team. It comes with responsibilities and encroaches on your freedom.
But too much autonomy can also be lonely. And when you can only work alone, the scope of a project and its complexity is limited.
By accepting slightly less independence, you could gain a lot: A shared sense of the journey, and a larger capacity to do bigger and more intriguing work.
Working with your polarities
So, how to loosen the grip of your main pole and invite some of its connected poles into your work?
A good start is to ask yourself these 4 questions:
Sometimes I think I am too ...
At those times I would like to be more ...
What I fear - if I do too much of the above … ?
What do I really value that leads to [answer 1] when I do too much of it … ?
Especially those last two help you get clear of what’s important and where the line of too much of it is.
This will help you find a fruitful middle ground.
In my conversation with Willem Dudok from Johnny Wonder, we talked about these polarities.
